High occupancy in Red Sea and South Sinai pre-Eid Al-Fitr: Hotels Chamber(AFP Photo)

Hotel occupancies in the Red Sea and South Sinai rose to 70% and 50% respectively as domestic tourists arrived for Eid Al-Fitr, said Hany Al-Shaer, the Chamber of Hotels’ Deputy Chairman.

The Red Sea’s hotel capac- ity is approximately 69,000 rooms, with South Sinai’s capacity at 62,000 said Al-Shaer. He expects occupancies to increase to 80% in Sharm El- Sheikh and 90% in the Red Sea during the holiday break before decreasing to 50% after the holiday in both areas.

Hany Gawesh, a member of the Tourism Investors Association in Nuweiba-Taba, expects occupancies to increase to 75%, although they currently do not exceed 30%. The nightly rate per person for one room in Nuweiba-Taba ranges from EGP 140-280, while the same price for a for- eigner varies from $24-$26 ac- cording to Gawesh.

Despite operation costs in- crease following the fuel and energy price hike, Gawesh said: “Prices remain as they are and have not changed from last year in order to attract Egyptians.” In Marsa Allam, occupancies increased to 70% said Adel Rady, Chairman of the Tourism Investors Association in the area. He added that as the majority of tourists are foreigners , flights should be chartered between Cairo and Marsa Al- lam to increase the number of domestic tourists. “It does not make sense for a traveller to pay EGP 2000 just for the plane ticket without the cost of accommodation,” he explained.

Tourism movement in Egypt fell to 4.4 million tourists during the first half of 2014, representing a 25% decrease from the same time last year, said Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou. Rady believes that Egypt will witness a tourism boom next winter. The Tourism Activation Authority is looking to conduct promotional campaigns in European markets to increase tourism for the winter season said Ahmed Shoukry, Chair- man of the International Tourism Sector at the Authority.